Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson condemned the idea of letting transgender Americans serve openly in the military during a veteran town hall event over the weekend.

While speaking at a town hall hosted by Concerned Veterans for America in Waterloo, Iowa, on Saturday, the retired neurosurgeon questioned the need to allow transgender people to join the U.S. armed forces, reports CBS News. According to him, the military is not the place to deal with the "transgender thing."

"I do not appreciate using our military as a laboratory for a social experiment. You know, we have too many important things to do," said Carson.

The 2016 GOP hopeful went on to say, "When our men and women are out there, you know, fighting the enemy, the last thing that we need to be doing is saying, 'What would it be like if we introduced several transgender people into this platoon?'"

"Give me a break," he added. "Deal with the transgender thing somewhere else."

Although transgender individuals are banned from military service, studies show that there are up to 15,000 transgender people currently serving as active duty or reserve officers, reports MSNBC. However, they are required to keep their gender identities hidden in fear of being discharged.

During the Q&A portion of the veteran event, Carson touted his support for the 1993 "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Act, which prevented gay men and women from serving openly in the armed forces before it was repealed in 2011.

"I like the old, you know, 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' philosophy," Carson said of the former military ban on the gay community. "Why do you have to go around flouting your sexuality? It's not necessary. You don't need to talk about that. We need to talk about how we eliminate the enemy."

Carson's comments about LGBT members of the military come as the Pentagon nears the deadline to lift the ban on transgender personnel joining the ranks to protect our country. Pentagon officials are expected to make way for the integration of transgender troops into the armed forces sometime in 2016.